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Topic: dry tropics (Read 2772 times)

Hello,Would anyone know of good bee plants for North Queensland weather? We planted lots of grevillea and bottlebrush, but so far I've only seen bees around the red bottlebrush with lots of yellow pollen on the outside of it, so I put in a hinchinbrook bottlebrush the other day. I've also got some lillipillies in pots. There is some pumpkin too. The neem blossom is out at the moment, which is shading the bee hives, and the bees are right into that. A friend has a vine with an orange flower which bees like, so if I can grow some I might send a photo to see if anyone knows what it is. She also has some kind of brazillian cherry for me. Anyway, I am open to more suggestions, because I don't have any knowledge of what is good for bees or their honey. And even if my honey pot stays empty, at least my garden is looking better :)

Thanks very much for the information. A couple of those trees grow in the paddock here, although it's a lot drier than Lismore region and we are better at growing rocks than anything. We checked all winter (my first winter with bees) and I think some tree was in flower all the time. It's interesting to know about the protein content. Will a high protein pollen mean they can breed all year?The beds are so warm here we sleep outside. The plane ticket might be a problem, but I suppose you could fit a couple of hives into special luggage.

Seems fall dwindling was looked at 20 years ago, and I applaude Australia for looking into and analyzing pollen nutrition at that time. I think commercial beekeepers who place bees on mega operations and have bees feed on a single source pollen crops for extended periods, to which poor nutrition may be at play, would be best to be well versed on such matters.

As for queen rearing, pollen does play a role, but this is not the only factor. What that site does tell you, is that some pollen is downright bad for bees, and supplemental pollen feeding may be augmented to offset poor pollen nutrition, or periods of poor pollen availability. I am not an expert on queen rearing in your country. But certainly feeding syrup and pollen patties is considered a must for many queen producers.

The thing that everyone should walk away with from that site, is the data and research that clearly shows what happens when bees overwinter with no pollen, or poor nutritious pollen. (whether this is connected to CCD or not).

The book I'm reading, which is specific to the hotter climate, says that bottlebrushes have a high protein content. So far, the bees haven't gone for the bottlebrushes here but I noticed they were all around the ones at the weir, which are red with pollen on the outside. I ordered 4 plants today from the nursery.

My mate finally got to grow some of the orange vine for me, which I mentioned above. I am not sure of the name. I think it might be a noxious weed but boy is it pretty, and the bees do seem to go for it. It is thriving round the archway.